This application relates to the intermodal shipping industry, and more particularly to containerization using intermodal shipping containers. Even more particularly, this application provides an improvement to homeland security by making inspection of containerized cargo faster, easier, and more reliable than conventional techniques.
Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport cargo transport using standard ISO containers (known as “Shipping Containers” or “Isotainers”) that can be loaded and sealed intact onto container ships, railroad cars, planes, and trucks.
Intermodal shipping containers generally are hollow rectangular cubes which may vary in size from 20×8.5×8 feet, to 40, 45, and 50 foot lengths, which may rise in height to 9.5 feet. These containers generally have standardized dimensions and corner posts in accordance with industry standards applicable to intermodal shipping containers.
There are five common standard lengths, 20-ft (6.1 m), 40-ft (12.2 m), 45-ft (13.7 m), 48-ft (14.6 m), and 53-ft (16.2 m). United States domestic standard containers are generally 48-ft and 53-ft (rail and truck). Container capacity is measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). A twenty-foot equivalent unit is a measure of containerized cargo capacity equal to one standard 20 ft (length)×8 ft (width)×8 ft 6 in (height) container. In metric units this is 6.10 m (length)×2.44 m (width)×2.59 m (height), or approximately 38.5 m3. These sell at about US$2,500 in China, the biggest manufacturer. Most containers today are of the 40-ft (12.2 m) variety and are known as 40-foot containers.
The use of US measurements to describe container size, despite the fact the rest of the world uses the metric system, reflects the fact that US shipping companies played a major part in the development of containers. The overwhelming need to have a standard size for containers, in order that they fit all ships, cranes, and trucks, and the length of time that the current container sizes have been in use, makes changing to an even metric size impractical.
Access to the interior of an intermodal shipping container has conventionally been limited to a door or doors on one end of the container. This conventional arrangement has made it difficult to load cargo of certain shapes, and has also made security inspections and physical access to the cargo at ports of entry problematic because access to the first-loaded cargo at the end of the container away from the door is generally difficult. In addition, the conventional door arrangement has resulted in a certain amount of undesirable pilferage.
Further, the presence of doors on one end of the container results in a structural weakening of the container, thus limiting the number of containers that can safely be vertically stacked, as well as limiting access for offloading of cargo from the container.
What is needed is a container configured to facilitate security inspection of cargo contained within the container. What is further needed is a cargo container that allows relatively easy physical access to cargo contained therein to reduce the time and effort of loading and unloading the container. What is still further needed is an intermodal cargo container without conventional doors that constrains or prohibits unauthorized access to the contents of the container, and which provides increased structural integrity and physical security.